POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River football team got back to winning ways last Thursday as they handily defeated Holmes 55-7 on Homecoming.

The Wildcats now turn their attention to the No. 1 team in the country, Jones College. The annual “Cat Fight” is set to kick off at 7 p.m. in Dobie Holden Stadium.

Pearl River will honor baseball and basketball’s 2020-21 State Championship teams at halftime.

“I’m just proud of our kids, but again our kids have played hard from Coahoma on,” head coach Seth Smith said. “I’ve just not put them in good positions to succeed. Thank God, Thursday was a lot more reflective of who we would like to be. We had three total penalties, zero turnovers, played good defense and ran the ball well. If you do that, you give yourself a chance.

“I was happy to see with it being Homecoming and having a big crowd that those people got to see that we have a good team.”

In the win against Holmes, Tony Brown (Hurley; East Central) tallied 229 yards and four touchdowns on just 10 carries. The yardage was good enough to place him in second place all-time for yards in a game behind Mike Toefield who had 264.

212 of Brown’s yards came in the first quarter alone.

“I just saw Tony on Thursday,” Smith said. “It was the same Tony that I’ve seen since he was a ninth-grader. The offensive line did a great job and coach (Dave) Chatham had a great plan all week. It was fun to see the plan that he had play out on Thursday.

“You got to see why his nickname is ‘Touchdown’ Tony Brown and you got to see why we were so happy to have him here. That’s who he is and that’s how he plays.”

The Pearl River (2-4 overall; 0-3 MACCC South) ground game is led by Brown who has rushed for 447 yards and five touchdowns on 57 carries. Nick Milsap (Raleigh; Oak Grove) is second with 308 yards and a touchdown on 47 attempts.

Latreal Jones (Taylorsville) leads the team in receptions with 14 and is second on the team in receiving yards with 106 yards.

Will Young (Hurley; East Central) has passed for 26 yards and a touchdown while running for 229 yards and three touchdowns.

Tavion Smith (Hattiesburg; Oak Grove) is second in catches with 11 and leads the team in yards with 152.

Jaquez Andrews (Hattiesburg) leads the team in tackles with 30. Nijewel Coleman (Sumrall) is second on the team with 27. He also has chipped in three tackles for loss, two interceptions and one forced fumble.

ABOUT JONES COLLEGE
Jones (6-0; 3-0) enters Thursday’s contest fresh off a 55-6 victory over Southwest.

The Bobcats get it done through the air and on the ground, averaging 232.3 rushing yards and 171.17 passing yards.

“They’re just good at everything they do,” Smith said. “They’re well-coached, they have good players, they are disciplined, and they play hard. They are as advertised. The key for us this week will be not turning the ball over. If you play a team like this and turn the ball over, you will get embarrassed.”

JC is led on the ground by Florida State transfer La’Damian Webb. Webb has carried the ball 127 times for 888 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. Robert Henry is second on the team with 298 yards and four touchdowns on 42 rush attempts.

The air attack is led by Quaterius Hawkins who has thrown for 950 yards, eight touchdowns and one interception.

Bud Tolbert leads the Bobcats in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns with 399 and four, respectively. Qua Sanders comes in at the two spot with 213 yards and a touchdown.

Drew Horton leads the team in tackles with 40.

‘CAT FIGHT’ SERIES
According to Pearl River records, Jones leads the all-time series 46-42-2. The Bobcats took last year’s game 37-13.

TICKETS
Fans are strongly encouraged to purchase tickets in advance to avoid lines. Tickets are available now and can be purchased at PRCCAthletics.com/tickets. General admission tickets can be purchased in advance for $8 or at the box office for $10.

TUNE IN
All Pearl River football games are livestreamed for free at PRCCMedia.com/gold. Fans who have Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV devices can also watch the Wildcat broadcasts by downloading the “Pearl River CC” channel from their app. stores.

Games will also be available over the air in Pearl River County by tuning into 1320 AM and 106.9 FM., in Columbia on WCJU 102.7 FM and 1450 AM, and in Hattiesburg on WHSY 105.9 FM and 950 AM. The radio broadcast is also available at WRJWRadio.com and by downloading the WRJW app.

For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on Twitter (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).